Through my academic career, I have spent most of research efforts on problems relating to probabilistic hydrosystem engineering. I am truly thankful to my advisor, Larry W. Mays, who first introduced me to this fascinating area when I was a Ph. D. student. Over the years, both Larry and the late Ben C. Yen have been my unflagging supporters and mentors. In the process of putting together the book, the use of materials from some of my former students (Drs. Wade Hathhorn, Yixing Bao, and Bing Zhao) brought many fond memories back about the time we spent together burning midnight oil, cutting fire wood, and fishing. Many of my more recent students (Chen Xingyuan, Lu Zhihua, Wang Ying, Eddy Lau, and Wu Shiang-Jen) have contributed their kind assistance in preparing figures and tables, reading manuscripts and offering their criticisms from a student’s perspective. I am also grateful to Ms. Queenie Tso for skillful typing of numerous equations and painstakingly performing necessary corrections in the book. Especially, I would like to express sincere gratitude to my dear friend Ms. Joanne Lam for her prayers and encouragements during the course of writing this book.
Although writing this book has been a very rewarding experience, it nevertheless has occupied many hours and attention that I should have spent with my family. I am grateful to my wife Be-Ling and daughters (Fen, Wen, Fei, and Ting) for their understanding and support without which the completion of this book would not have been possible. By the time the final manuscript was submitted, I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness and loss since I wished Prof. Yen would have lived to see the completion of this book. I want to thank Ruth Yen for her encouragement to continue with the work. Also I am much obliged to Steve Melching for his willingness to work with me on the book. Looking back, I see how kind God has been to me. He blesses me by surrounding me with so many people who do not hold back their support, kindness, and love. I praise the Lord that through His mercy and grace the book is completed.
Last, but not the least, I am thankful to McGraw-Hill for supporting the publication of the book, to Mr. Larry Hager for his advice in preparing the book, and, in particular, to Samik Roy Choudhury (Sam) and his team at International Typesetting and Composition for editorial and production efforts.
Yeou-Koung Tung
I would like to take this opportunity to most sincerely thank my coauthors. The late Prof. Ben C. Yen was my Ph. D. advisor, mentor, and friend, and the greatest influence on my life after my parents and my Lord Jesus Christ. Professor Yen led me down the path of the study of uncertainty and reliability in hydrosystems engineering in my Ph. D. work and we worked together on many related projects throughout my professional life. Professor Y. K. Tung invited me to get involved in this book after Prof. Yen’s untimely death, initially to be a second pair of eyes to ensure that the concepts were clear, concise, and correct. Eventually my small contribution grew enough that Y. K. honored me with a coauthorship.
I also would like to thank my wife, Qiong, and my children, Christine and Brian, for their patience while I hide in the basement on evenings and weekends working on this book. I also thank my former students, Satvinder Singh, Sharath Anmangandla, Chun Yoon, and Gemma Manache, whose work on uncertainty analysis gave me additional insight that is part of my contribution to this book.
Charles S. Melching
